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Recombinant Apoptin multimers kill tumor cells but are nontoxic and epitope-shielded in a normal-cell-specific fashion

Zhang, Ying-Hui and Leliveld, S. Rutger and Kooistra, Klaas and Molenaar, Chris and Rohn, Jennifer L. and Tanke, Hans J. and Abrahams, Jan Pieter and Noteborn, Mathieu H. M.. (2003) Recombinant Apoptin multimers kill tumor cells but are nontoxic and epitope-shielded in a normal-cell-specific fashion. Experimental Cell Research, 289 (1). pp. 36-46.

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Official URL: https://edoc.unibas.ch/75856/

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Abstract

Apoptin, a protein derived from chicken anemia virus, induces apoptosis in human transformed or tumor cells but not in normal cells. When produced in bacteria as a recombinant fusion with maltose-binding protein (MBP-Apoptin), Apoptin forms a distinct, stable multimeric complex that is remarkably homogeneous and uniform. Here, using cytoplasmic microinjection, we showed that recombinant MBP-Apoptin multimers retained the characteristics of the ectopically expressed wild-type Apoptin; namely, the complexes translocated to the nucleus of tumor cells and. induced apoptosis, whereas they remained in the cytoplasm of normal, primary cells and exerted no apparent toxic effect. In normal cells, MBP-Apoptin formed increasingly large, organelle-sized globular bodies with time postinjection and eventually lost the ability to be detected by immunofluorescence analysis. Costaining with an acidotrophic marker indicated that these globular structures did not correspond to lysosomes. Immunoprecipitation studies showed that MBP-Apoptin remained fully antibody-accessible regardless of buffer stringency when microinjected into tumor cells. In contrast, MBP-Apoptin in normal cells was only recoverable under stringent lysis conditions, whereas under milder conditions they became fully shielded with time on two epitopes spanning the entire protein. Further biochemical analysis showed that the long-term fate of Apoptin protein aggregates in normal cells was their eventual elimination. Our results provide the first example of a tumor-specific apoptosis-inducing aggregate that is essentially sequestered by factors or conditions present in the cytoplasm of healthy, nontransformed cells. This characteristic should reveal more about the cellular interactions of this viral protein as well as further enhance its safety as a potential tumor-specific therapeutic agent.
Faculties and Departments:05 Faculty of Science > Departement Biozentrum > Structural Biology & Biophysics > Nano-diffraction of Biological Specimen (Abrahams)
UniBasel Contributors:Abrahams, Jan Pieter
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0014-4827
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
Identification Number:
Last Modified:06 Nov 2020 09:28
Deposited On:06 Nov 2020 09:28

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